The Mets may have been able to acquire an elite pitcher like Cliff Lee or Roy Oswalt via trade, but they weren't willing to part with pitcher Jonathan Niese or first baseman Ike Davis. "Your farm has a big role in how good your team is going to be," Davis said. "It's tough to just buy free agents and trade all of your farm, because if one of those guys goes down, who do you got to fill in? It's give or take; if it's a player you can't pass up, you've got to go for it. But you can't just deal everybody and expect this one guy to make or break your team."